Tormentil, the Common, or Sept-foil, Tormentilla erecta v. officinalis, L. is an indigenous perennial, growing in moors, barren pastures, and shady places ; flowering from June to September. - It is eaten by cows, goats, sheep and swine 3 but refused by horses.

The Tormentil is propagated by planting the crowns of its bulbous roots, at the depth of one inch, and at the distance of five or six square inches. - These roots are of great utility, both in domestic and in medical economy : on account of their strong astringency, they are advantageously substituted for oak-bark in tanning, and dyeing leather of a red colour, with the addition of the water-elder berries, and alum. - Leyser observes, in l)is Original Botany (7th century of his Collection of Plants, in German), that the inspissated red juice of this root may be employed as an excellent substitute for the foreign drug, called Dragon's blood, in dyeing, staining, etc.- Lastly, the tormentil-root has been found remarkably efficacious in the dysentery often prevailing among cattle; and, being one of the most astringent vegetables of our climate, it may, with equal advantage, be used for similar purposes by mankind.